Congenital syphilis

Abstract

Syphilis has been a re-emerging disease in the past few decades. As a consequence, the prevalence of congenital syphilis is expected to be on the rise. Maternal syphilis may be related to several pathologies, such as miscarriage, stillbirth, or congenital syphilis in the child. Infants that acquire syphilis in utero are frequently asymptomatic, and the organ damage caused by the infection may be apparent only years later. Syphilis is a curable disease, and most of its complications in the infant can be prevented by screening and treating the mother. Every newborn potentially infected should be treated with penicillin immediately starting on the day of birth.